Rare snowstorm hits US south, with four deaths reported

A rare winter storm in the southern United States is bringing snow and freezing rain, causing highway and airport closures in Texas, and prompting the first-ever blizzard warning for southwest Louisiana. Currently, it is believed that four people have died from exposure to the cold, with authorities in Austin, Texas investigating two cold-related deaths, while Georgia and Milwaukee have reported two deaths from hypothermia.

In the northern regions, parts of New York state are being hit by another storm, with snow accumulations reaching up to 18 inches. According to the online tracker Flight Aware, over 2,200 flights within the United States were canceled on Tuesday, and more than 3,000 flights were delayed. The National Weather Service (NWS) stated on Tuesday that even the Gulf Coast region, where snow flurries are rare, will experience historic snowfall, with an expected one inch or more of snow per hour from eastern Texas to the western Florida panhandle.

The National Weather Service has predicted "heavy" lake-effect snow, advising residents to avoid travel if possible. New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency on Monday in over a dozen counties in western New York, as communities face snowfall and extreme cold. Buffalo Mayor Christopher Scanlon also independently declared a state of emergency, closing City Hall and Route 5, the Buffalo Skyway, due to blowing snow and other hazardous driving conditions.

Parts of Canada have also been hit by unusually cold winter weather, with extreme cold warnings issued for both Ontario and Quebec. With wind chill effects, temperatures in some areas will drop as low as -50 degrees Celsius (-58 degrees Fahrenheit). According to the National Weather Service, the highest snowfall recorded in the southern United States as of Tuesday afternoon local time was 10.5 inches in Rayne, Louisiana.

Temperatures are expected to be well below the January average and may exceed record lows stretching from the coast into the Tennessee Valley. Governors in several states, including Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, have also declared states of emergency in response to this unusual cold weather. The storm that hit the southern United States began in Texas on Monday night and is expected to spread eastward along Interstate 10, a major highway in the region, through Wednesday morning.

By Tuesday afternoon, the storm had moved into Georgia, the Florida panhandle, and the Carolinas. State leaders and agencies are scrambling to respond to the atypical weather. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis stated that Florida's infrastructure is "designed differently" than states that regularly experience snow. "We in Florida are not used to walking around in a winter wonderland," he said. DeSantis, along with North Carolina Governor Josh Stein, urged residents to stay home.

This extreme weather is part of a cold air mass hitting the southern and eastern regions of the United States, and is expected to continue in the coming days. Mark Chenard, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, told CBS News, a BBC partner, that approximately 40 million people, primarily in the southern United States, are under some form of weather disaster. Another 170 million people from the Rockies to the East are under extreme weather warnings or cold weather alerts. Many school systems have canceled classes, and two airports in Houston have suspended flight operations.

The National Weather Service warns that even after the snowfall stops, this rare storm could continue to cause "widespread" disruptions to air and ground travel in the coming days.